e-cigarettes

It all started at the mall when a friend offered a puff from their JUUL e-cigarette.

“It was kind of peer pressure,” said Beth, a Denver 15-year-old who started vaping in middle school. “Then I started inhaling it, and then I suddenly was, like, ‘wow, I really think that I need this, even though I don’t.’”

A ban on vaping will soon extend to "every inch" of the Texas A&M University System, according to a Tuesday memorandum from Chancellor John Sharp that cites recent revelations about how electronic cigarette use or vaping can lead to lung illnesses.

A study published this week in the medical journal Radiology has found vaping — even just one time — damages blood vessel function. UT Health San Antonio pulmonologist Sandra Adams said this research, in addition to a Centers for Disease Controlinvestigation into more than 100 cases of severe lung disease linked to vaping, back up health experts’ previous admonitions that people avoid e-cigarettes until more is known about how they impact long-term health.

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Bonnie Petrie spoke with a UT Health San Antonio pulmonologist who thinks people should stop vaping until researchers know more about the long-term health impact.

Kristen Lewis keeps a brown cardboard box in her office at Boulder High School. It’s filled with vape pens like JUULs, the leading brand of e-cigarettes, dozens of the pods that carry nicotine liquid, and a lonely box of Marlboros.

“This is what I call the box of death,” she said. “This is everything that we’ve confiscated.”

The use of e-cigarettes is associated with an increased risk of heart attack, heart disease and stroke, according to research that is scheduled to be presented Feb. 6 at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in Honolulu.

Concern around the health effects of e-cigarette use has grown in recent years, fueled by a surge in their popularity and a belief that they're safe alternatives to normal cigarettes.

When smokers dial 1-800-QUIT-NOW they can work with a coach, over the phone, to understand triggers, manage cravings and grapple with relapse.

The eligibility age for the Colorado QuitLine was 15. Now, with the explosion in teen vaping, the state health department will drop it to 12. The change comes as the state scrambles to head off what public health officials say is a catastrophe.

Kansas health advocates lauded the Food and Drug Administration’s decision Thursday to regulate electronic cigarettes, while those in the vaping industry pointed to harm to businesses and people trying to quit smoking.

Despite a sharp rise in the use of e-cigarettes and unanswered questions about their potential health effects, there is currently little regulation at the state or federal levels of their sales and marketing. While Kansas and other states explore various approaches to regulation, some Kansas communities have taken action to limit their use in public places. The Kansas Health Institute (KHI) has released the third and final issue brief in the series on e-cigarettes, entitled, E-Cigarette Policy, Regulation and Marketing.

In 2012, Kansas state legislators enacted a ban on the sale to and possession of e-cigarettes by minors (48 other states and the District of Columbia have done the same). In 2015, Kansas policymakers approved a sales tax on e-cigarettes at the rate of $0.20/milliliter of e-liquid (HB 2109), which goes into effect July 1, 2016.